I want to hear about your C5K results please!!!

Both my wife and I started this last fall. We were horrible at it to begin with and were struggling with it, but we kept at it, we even bought a treadmill so we could keep running through the winter. I was around 230 when I started and my wife was 196. I now weigh in at 195 and my wife is close to 145. She completed a 10K race last month and we are looking for another race to do together now. I also just had my personal best 5k time last night clocking in at 27:26! I have also completed 10K in 1:15:00 so I am now going to start focusing on getting that below an 1 hour. This program works and we both love running now. Would recommend getting fit out properly at a running store to make sure you are wearing the proper sneaker type.

Hi everyone! I'm thinking that I want to try this C5K program! I'm just curious about everyone's results. And is there anyone that has started this program being 300+ LBS. ? I'm currently at 308 and walk 3 miles every day now and I think I could possible do this. I would love to see people's results and hear how everyone has done! Especially people who have a great deal of weight to lose like me. All the support and encouragement would be greatly appreciated! And I know seeing people's results will inspire and encourage me to try it! Thank you everyone!!

It took me much longer to complete than the 9 weeks...And when I started losing weight I was 301...but I didnt start c25k right a way I did a lot of cycling and elliptical until id lost about 25Lbs. This helped me with 2 things it helped better prepare my body that was not used to any activity and improved my cardio functionality

I was never a runner either but C25K is so awesome, I can safely say that I am now. I started in late February and breezed through the program quickly...I actually was doing two of the program weeks in one week's time. I ran my first 5K at Week 5 (early April). I wasn't fast but I got it done! I'm on Week 8 Day 2 now and I have no worries that I can run another 5K at any moment. I actually usually find myself running longer than the programmed times...I don't know how or why it happened but C25K changed the way I feel about exercise and running.

I'm addicted to it now...I actually anticipate my after-work run time. And, my weight has dropped 20 pounds in about 6-7 weeks.

My advice is take it slowly, repeat weeks if you have to, concentrate on your breathing from the beginning and get fitted for proper running shoes and size. You WILL have success with it!

Good luck!

I started C25K late February or early March (don't actually remember!). The 60 second intervals at the beginning were tough, even though I had been walking for months. I've been going slowly, due to a tendency to develop shin splints. I've repeated weeks, sometimes multiple times. I have my first 5K in two weeks, but won't be ready to run the entire thing yet. I just completed week 6 last night. I ran for 22 minutes straight, averaging about 4.5 mph (yes, I'm SLOW). I ran about 1.75 miles last night and it was a huge accomplishment for me.

My advice: First, get fitted for running shoes at a running store. Second, never run two days in a row (I did last night and now my knees are a little sore today!). and just do it!

4.5 mph is NOT slow at all for 2 months of running. That's actually pretty fantastic.

Aw, thanks! I feel really slow LOL....

I looked at the C5K, but did the Runner's World Beginning Running plan. If you Google for "runner's world beginning running" it appears as the top choice.

**~Edit: A lot of the Runner's World stuff costs $, this was the free version.~**

I choose it because it incorporated walking twice a week so that I was a little more active. I thought that was important to me because I have a desk job; I generally don't move a lot during the day.

Prior to starting I wanted to break into 199 lbs. I did this because I have tried running before and found myself prone to injury when I weighed more (knee problems, ankles, etc). I also wanted to make sure that I was on track with watching what I was eating and semi-successful. By the time I got to 199 lbs, I had lost approximately 27 lbs. I did this by walking and was capable of doing so for 40 minutes solid. I also made sure that I got fitted for shoes where my gait was checked and my shoes fit correctly. The last part of the pre-training, I met with my Doctor and she sent me to a couple of physical therapy sessions to strengthen my hips and legs. That helped immensely because I learned how to properly stretch and simple strength training so that I would avoid injury and not over stretch, which I didn't know was possible.

All that out of the way, I just finished running my second 5k at a time of 24:37. I am starting to do the marathon rookie training plan for a 10k. I also signed up to run a marathon in October, which has been a life long goal. I begin the 17 weeks of training for it June 11th (I'm a little nervous about this), but I think I can do it!

So go for it! I have lost 41 lbs and feel good. I am amazed at what a little walking (eventually leading to running) and watching my calories can do.

I actually started it yesterday!

One thing I never realized is the importance of a good exercise/jogging bra. Oof.

I started C25K around Sept. 2010, was about 60 pounds heavier than I am now, I ran my first official 5K in Dec. 2010, my first 5 miler in May 2011, first 10K in Nov. 2011, first half marathon Dec. 2011 and finished my first marathon this past March. Now I'm running my first repeat races and have PR'd two of them by at least 3 minutes...next is the 5 miler this Saturday that I hope to PR by 3-5 minutes. In short...the program worked for me!

I'm on week 5 day 2 and plan on repeating that day a few times before doing day 3. Running for 20 minutes non stop is a little intimidating. Anyway I saw someone ask if anyone had knee problems and YES I DO! I was in a car wreck as a child and shattered my knee and the growth plate which later required surgeries on both legs to get them to growth the correct length. Unfortunately this required the growth in my "good" leg to be stopped so I wouldn't be walking like someone from the v8 commercials. Anyway back to the topic at hand. I have had a little knee aches but nothing excruciating or prolonged so I've been keeping at it and not over doing it. I'm seeing myself progress so much and have done a mile run to benefit kids charities. Yeah I know a mile doesn't seem like much but if you've never run a mile is like Mt Olympus. I have also made plans to run the 5k next year during the same weekend and may do the 10k the following year. This really is a great program that eases you into running. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to run. Like others have said. Get good Running shoes and stay with it. If you do this you have to commit to it. Good luck and happy running.